CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — After suffering a loss that shook up the college football landscape in Week 4, the No. 23 Illini have an opportunity to right the ship on Saturday.
They’ll look to do so under the spotlight
of the national media, in front of a sold-out Homecoming crowd and against a ranked opponent in the No. 21 USC Trojans.
Needless to say, it’s going to be a hectic weekend in Champaign.
But in the words of head coach Bret Bielema, he knows that the team’s performance is what dictates things.
“To play a home game at Memorial Stadium, this atmosphere… to have a home field advantage now at the University of Illinois is absolutely awesome,” Bielema said. “But for that to be a part of Saturday, we control the volume obviously.”
Multiple big-time fixtures in sports media are making the trip to Champaign, as FOX’s Big Noon Kickoff pregame show and Barstool Sports’ Barstool College Football Show will be broadcasting live from Grange Grove before the game on Saturday.
Right now, there’s the most national attention on Illinois football in recent memory, something that Bielema was quick to give credit to his players for.
“All these types of shows, the things that have been around college football, to never be here on Illinois’ campus, I think this is a really big deal,” Bielema said. “And it was created by what these guys have done and put themselves in position for.”
In terms of X’s and O’s, the Illini have a tough task lying ahead of them in an undefeated Trojan team led by head coach Lincoln Riley and a dynamic quarterback in Jayden Maiava.
The junior QB is capable of impacting the game both through the air and on the ground, and has gotten off to a hot enough start to vault himself into the Heisman conversation.
“This USC offense is, you know, there’s similarities of what we’ve seen, but they’re also completely different,” Bielema said. “Quarterback is obviously one of the most efficient guys in the league… he can throw the ball, but he can also run it pretty good.”
Luckily for Illinois, the depth concerns in the secondary that plagued the team against Indiana seem to have been mended.
According to Bielema, the Illini’s secondary is looking like it’ll be playing at full strength on Saturday, outside of star defensive back Xavier Scott, who had surgery on Wednesday that will hold him out for the foreseeable future.
That means DB Matthew Bailey is on his way to being ready for gametime, and that Jaheim Clarke could be making his season debut against USC.
Wide receiver Justin Bowick and running back Aidan Laughery, two offensive guys who have been hampered by injuries, seem like they’re going to be in action on Saturday as well.
With both sides of the ball being healthier than they’ve been in the past few weeks, there’s reason to be optimistic for Homecoming weekend.
